


A banner's true words

by fish_wifey



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alternate Universe - Wings, Getting together speedrun, HQ Rarepair Bang 2020, Kissing, Love at First Sight, M/M, Mild Soulmate AU, Temporary Amnesia, Wings, the speediest yet, this is the strangest stuff and magic my brain has ever produced
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-07
Updated: 2020-04-07
Packaged: 2021-03-01 22:01:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,036
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23524249
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fish_wifey/pseuds/fish_wifey
Summary: Falling in love seems easy. Staying in love or remembering it? Less so.The banners curse them. Kita doesn't have memories, and Sawamura keeps flying away.
Relationships: Kita Shinsuke/Sawamura Daichi
Comments: 12
Kudos: 43
Collections: HQ Rarepair Bang 2020





	A banner's true words

**Author's Note:**

> usually i have better luck configuring this one scene in my head (in this case: captains with their banners over their shoulders, and those banners working magic on them) a lot better. i decided on the soulmate tag because, like my lovely beta Nana said, they were just out there making out right away ww
> 
> ah well i think i have written stranger things. this is for the HQ!! rare pair big bang .v. my partner was Ana, and I put her accompanying art embedded in the fic  
> (if there is ever a problem with it, please comment and let me know guys TT)
> 
> Ana, thank you for being such an amazing partner TT I loved your ideas and am sosososo happy with the cool outcome~ Guys, please check out [Anakito's twitter~](https://twitter.com/anakitoart/)
> 
> To everyone else, please enjoy uvu I have another, longer sawakita for this bang too, a daycare au .v.

Shinsuke hadn’t understood how other people in his team felt or experienced attraction until he met Sawamura Daichi. ‘Meeting’ was the loose term for briefly fighting him on the court during one of the toughest battles Shinsuke had experienced with Inarizaki. And the ‘meeting’ was even less than one, as Shinsuke had to keep his team in line, keeping them from being overwhelmed.

Attraction however, he felt through and through. In Shinsuke’s brain, it clicked ‘that one’. Sawamura was easy on the eyes, and had a nice voice. Shinsuke found himself interested even more about the other captain’s personality. He felt an instant connection that rumbled through him, a wild red yarn shooting out from his being towards Sawamura. It had this odd, semi-opaque shiny aura to it.

But first, they had to defeat the crows. Nothing else should matter right now. Not even Shinsuke’s inner turmoil and revelations.

*

It wasn’t in his blood to just ‘wait and see’. Above all, he might not see Sawamura again so soon. The match had been Shinsuke’s last as a high school student. And it would be his last for some time. He hadn’t decided if he’d join a volleyball team in university, not yet. Sawamura lived way up north. Their paths may never meet again.

So Shinsuke followed his attraction. He stole off after having taken care of all his captain duties. The bus was packed with everyone’s bags at least, but not yet all the players. As such, Shinsuke excused himself to find such a one. He found the person easily, crying. Shinsuke left them, saying he will be back in 10 minutes, and that they would have to go.

The gods favoured him today, as they led his following path with ease to Sawamura. He sits by himself, obviously exhausted. When Shinsuke closes in on him, it’s without a thought in his mind. He doesn’t need memories. But he wants this one.

Standing in front of Sawamura, the sitting boy looks up. He stays still as Shinsuke’s hands run over his face, fingers spreading. It’s so simple and easy, this kiss Shinsuke gives. Nothing complicated, nothing extraordinary, nothing at all. Just a brush of lips, closed eyes, inhaling as one being. Just this little feels nice enough that Shinsuke considers more of the same.

Sawamura’s hands glide over the top of his wrist, without much force. His thumbs run under Shinsuke’s pulse.

“What was that for? You’re quite forward,” Sawamura says, his voice even smoother and deeper up close. Shinsuke ignores whatever his body feels and focuses on what his brain wants him to say. He could run away, his feet opt. Such cowardice, however, Shinsuke wouldn’t permit himself in this lifetime.

“Apologies for not asking permission first,” Shinsuke says, his heart quite rambunctious as Sawamura’s gentle smile widens. He could look at it forever. “I wanted to try this and…had a feeling.”

“That I’d be accepting of it? Your senses are quite good then,” Sawamura laughs, still holding his wrists, then hands, as Shinsuke stands upright a little.

The words came out as easy as anything else Shinsuke did. Sawamura Daichi has a solid presence, a good face, and a warming smile. Shinsuke never knew he had a 'type' until he saw Sawamura play; until they shook hands twice at Nationals.

Telling him the simple 'I think I like you' might have been forward, rash, and a little awkward. Shinsuke didn't regret saying it.

Sawamura didn't say anything. He just stepped forward and into Shinsuke's space, put his warm hand on Shinsuke's face, and before anyone involved could blink, they were kissing. Sawamura's lips were soft, a low hum coming from his throat as he deepens the kiss a midge. Staring up, Shinsuke watches Sawamura's eyelashes, his relaxed face, melting into his. When a tongue tickles him, Shinsuke's hand runs up over Sawamura's chest, and he curls his fingers into the orange fabric.

The kiss becomes heaven afterwards.

They have to go different ways. Shinsuke thinks he sees wings spreading from Sawamura's back. An illusion, surely. Or a premonition?

Shinsuke turns his back onto him, remembering the kid he left to cry. They move out from the Tokyo gymnasium, towards where their coach waits with the bus. Their hostel was quite far away. As Shinsuke approaches the bus, Aran and the twins await him with grim faces. He stands before them, waiting for them to state their business.

Then the twins go around him, spreading the Inarizaki banner across his back and towards his shoulders. It’s way too large to carry.

“You guys… folding this back together is quite the task.”

“We had the intention of washing it before,” Atsumu says.

“It should be clean and tidy, after hanging out there…” Osamu offers.

Suna appears with a camera, and Shinsuke has to smile softly for the sweet sentiment. One lasting memory, he guesses. Even though he wouldn’t need it. Allowing the twins to gather up the ends of the banner into his arms and hands, Shinsuke moves forward to enter the bus.

On the very first step, the oddest sensation runs from his head down his arms. His teammates once discussed the weirdness of having a task in mind, but upon exiting one room or entering the next one, they’d forget what they wanted to do and turn around. Shinsuke doesn’t turn, knowing quite well where he is and what he wanted to do. Go inside the bus, find a seat.

Yet this feeling in his brain spreads and spreads. At first it’s feather light. Feathers, the image of it so clear one moment, so blurry the next. Shinsuke’s feet don’t stand still, they move him forward. The feathery sensation in his brain becomes more inky-black. Did he forget something where the Inarizaki team had left their bags? Surely not.

Shinsuke sits down near the front, his eyes forward. A last look in the gym, after a heavy defeat. For a second, he forgets who their last opponent was. The bus starts once everyone sits down; a coldness runs down Shinsuke’s spine. Surely he couldn’t have forgotten who just eliminated them out of the Spring tournament. That was impossible.

Thankfully, the fright is short. Of course Shinsuke remembers; they had met Karasuno, a team of orange and black. What escapes Shinsuke nonetheless, all the ride home, is who their captain was. They had shaken hands, twice. And something else…

Shinsuke can’t remember his face.

As he attempts to search his memory, Shinsuke is met with an inky blackness, swirling his mind. From it rises a feather, dripping. Another feather follows, and the blackness makes way for more.

Before he can grasp the familiarity of what he finds in his head and the man in front of him turns. His eyes are all-black. He turns around, and before Shinsuke can ask him to wait, before he can even lift a hand forward, large black wings span from his back.

They beat once, and then he flies away.

*

Their bus had an issue and was taken to a nearby garage for inspection. Shinsuke leads the entire team towards it, as the coach told them he’d meet them there.

“Oh hey, that’s him, isn’t it?”

Shinsuke hears behind him, as idle chatter makes it way to the front. He sees Aran, walking by his side, point as well. This gets Shinsuke’s mild attention. He turns to where Aran has pointed, and finds third years from Karasuno. Shinsuke walks slowly. Yes, there was the samurai, their strong left. The grey-headed setter, who had been quite loud on the bench. And in their middle, someone Shinsuke can’t remember.

His feet come to an abrupt halt. The world doesn’t speed on, nor does the rest of the team behind him collide into Shinsuke. Time moves slower. He stares at the guy in the middle, just as Karasuno’s second setter waves at them awkwardly. The samurai shrinks in on himself, his eyes dark and terrifying. In the middle, the boy Shinsuke can’t remember from the match waves excitedly. Smiles kindly.

Why?

Shinsuke moves on, and the world turns as normal. Part of his head hurts, like he’s got a sudden headache. It’s gone after they arrive at the bus, and the garage tells them they have to wait for their coach to arrive. Aran bumps into him.

“That was cold, Shinsuke.”

“What was?” He asks, not sure what Aran is referencing. Aran stands still, looking at the path they walked before.

“Ignoring Karasuno’s captain like that. He seemed friendly,” Aran says, his face changing when Suna and the twins walk past him and sit on a bench.

“Why shouldn’t he? They beat us after all,” Atsumu says, stretching his leg out. Aran surely didn’t like to be interrupted, least of all by Atsumu. It doesn’t truly help him, Shinsuke guesses, that Osamu gives his 2 cents as well.

“You greeted Kageyama the other day too, ‘Tsumu,” Osamu interferes, knocking his foot against his brother’s. Aran steps up in front of them to stop what could escalate any moment. Shinsuke lets him handle it, as he was happy to not have this conversation with Aran anymore.

His headache returns. Karasuno’s captain. Who was that again?

*

Making sure it’s alright with his parents, Shinsuke takes off. It’s a free weekend and he has nothing planned, and his headaches have been bad for weeks. It was a long way up to the north. Shinsuke has taken several trains and buses, which slows down his journey but makes it all the cheaper. His parents hadn’t minded him going on a trip alone, but they thought he’d at least ask a friend to go too.

Shinsuke didn’t know how to talk about what had happened with any of his ex-teammates. Today’s destination, Miyagi, seems like it would give him some answers. He has no idea why, no idea what city or village he was looking for. There was a pull in his heart he couldn’t explain. A certainty that makes him feel that he will find what he’s looking for, whatever it is. So he sits on the train to Sendai, hoping that despite whatever emptiness resides in his heart, as soon as he gets there, he’ll know what to do.

It takes him several buses and another train ride until the emptiness feels less painful. Like the void gets filled with every step in the right direction.

He wasn’t prepared to stand between the doors of a gym. In front of him stood a boy his age, a near statue as he didn’t move. Shinsuke couldn’t put a name to him, no matter how much his brain and above all, his heart, wanted him to. His eyes are drawn to the white words written on black. Even through the wrinkles, Shinsuke can read ‘fly’. As he attempts to search his memory, Shinsuke once more meets only the inky blackness, swirling his mind. From it rises a feather, dripping. Another feather follows, and the blackness becomes a flutter of it, as if someone threw it up in the air, over him—

Before he can grasp the familiarity of what he finds in his head and the man in front of him, Sawamura turns. His eyes are all-black.

Sawamura, whom he kissed.

Sawamura, whom he has forgotten.

The banner rises high up from Sawamura, higher than arms could have taken them. Beneath the black is more black, hints of brown. The warm memories of the past wash over Shinsuke, who cannot see Sawamura’s face anymore.

Only the wings sprouting from his back, higher and higher.

The banner drifts off from them, to the ground. Sawamura turns, a gust of wind hitting Shinsuke in the face. He has to back off, given that the sudden wind is so strong that it brings him off-balance. He finally remembers, having found the one person who was meant to be for him. Who he was meant to be for. Finding him again, Shinsuke wants to run forward, apologize. Say he’d never forget him again.

As Shinsuke reaches down to untie his shoes and head in, Sawamura runs towards him. Blinking, Shinsuke wants to rise up, but can’t. Not when Sawamura heads out, wings first, then flies high and above him with one strong beat of his wings. Brown-black feathers fall over Shinsuke, and next to him. He takes one long feather off his head, putting it to his lips.

Sawamura got the banner’s curse too, and he flies away.

The winds were in Daichi’s favour. The beat of his wings is brutal, and the loud snaps take him by surprise. It doesn’t matter much, as he keeps rising. Only when he breaks through the clouds does Daichi hold still—as still as a bird in the air can be. Daichi glides through the clouds, his hair sweeping back, his eyes clearing. He does it over and over, until his clothes are damp, his face nearly washed.

Daichi lowers himself to see where he is at, not caring where he might land. The view however, is too pretty and he wants to see more of it. The pain in his chest has long been forgotten. So long ago it seems now, that he kissed a boy. It had been so random at the time, and had felt right all the way. Daichi’s thoughts regarding the boy are now being outflown. Unwanted. Daichi can take a hint with ease, and Kita had been quite blunt. Maybe the kiss had been a mistake after all. Too soon.

Seeing hills become bigger until their true mountain-sizes are so close that Daichi can smell the forests on them, Daichi angles himself differently. He was still new to the wings, and they weren’t the easiest thing to handle or control. He knew remotely what he had to do, to make sure he wouldn’t crash down. The forest rises up to meet him, and within seconds, Daichi rushes past branches and leaves, bringing some of it down with him.

When he lands, Daichi feels safe ground under his feet. A bit uneven, as tree roots move under the earth. Daichi sighs deeply, wanting to inhale the forest scent as deep as he can. Whispers greet him, as a son of the north, a son of the sky. They ask about his flock, and about what he’s left behind. That latter is too painful to answer, so Daichi retracts these new wings neatly, and begins the walk back. Orientation gently tells him where to go, and when his instincts fail him, the trees move their branches, as if to point.

Coming out of the forest and having signal on his phone, Daichi sends a multitude of texts. First to his friends, to inform them. Then to his parents, so they wouldn’t worry. White lies to keep them all calm. Daichi retrieves a loose branch from his hair, then snaps it in two. Resentment still comes out with every third or fourth exhale.

Maybe he wasn’t good enough.

Maybe he’s misread the signs. Or daydreamed them into existence.

Right now, his home was still far. Daichi flutters his wings out, testing their strength. They feel ready to go when he is. Take off is harder this time, as there is less purpose to run away. To unsee. Daichi has to try a couple of times, his feet coming down hard. It hurts his knees at one point. Sighing, Daichi thinks of Kita, at those lost eyes. The way they had widened when Daichi held the Karasuno banner. That too, had felt right. The feel of fabric on his shoulders, the sprouting of wings that hadn’t been his before. And Kita’s shock, as Daichi flew away.

Maybe it had been a mistake, too.

*

Daichi reaches Koushi’s house after sundown. He had told his mother he’d be here, so at least he should visit Koushi before he’d go to bed. As softly as he can manage, Daichi lands on the roof. He locates Koushi’s window upside down, and waves.

Koushi nearly falls out of his chair, but gathers himself quickly. He opens the window for Daichi, who holds himself fast on the top of the window, then swings himself in—the wings are gone before Koushi can see them. Something tells Daichi that they’re not Koushi’s to see. That they were meant for one set of eyes only. Daichi doesn’t want to think of that.

“You worried a lot of people,” Koushi says, looking stern for once. Daichi sits down on Koushi’s bed, meeting his eyes.

“How? I explained,” Daichi begins, but Koushi already has his hands up.

“No, no. I am sure you think you explained plenty. Don’t worry about your parents, they swallowed it. But Inarizaki’s captain went to _all_ our houses, looking for you! He’s still at Coach Ukai’s, I believe. He waited at Sakanoshita, for you.”

Daichi’s eyes widen. “He did? Wait,” Daichi looks down, pensive. But why would Kita do that, now? It was strange enough that he came here in the first place. Daichi didn’t care, because it was too late. And it shouldn’t matter to him now, that Kita was here. Still here.

For him.

“Listen, I know you were a bit heartbroken when he…didn’t call you back. He said he couldn’t remember. Like, maybe he had amnesia. That was Tsukishima’s guess, anyway. It could be true, you know! Maybe he hit his head and forgot you for a bit. I have been trying to understand how local and precise amnesia could work but—” Koushi continues. Daichi raises his head slowly, listening to it all.

There was a sharp pain in his brow. A memory of sorts. It was within a haze of pain and abandonment. Being forgotten wasn’t fun, but it couldn’t be much better for the person who did the forgetting. Something in the haze was familiar. A saying, at the tip of the tongue. Daichi gets up, paces in Koushi’s room. All Daichi could think about was that magical kiss. That instant knowledge that they were right for each other. It had been too easy, right? Attraction was one thing, but knowing two people truly belonged together…that usually had to go through some tests of courage, some hardship. They had none of that, not until later.

Daichi looks up, standing in the Tokyo gymnasium again. He’s up to serve. On the other side of the court, the Inarizaki squad drums their heart out to disrupt him. His heartbeat, his nerves, they overrule it. The beat of his heart overcomes the distraction. There’s something important here. Unhidden by the haze. Rising from the fog. It was right in front of his face, as the referee blows his whistle.

_We don’t need memories_

Blinking, he’s back in Koushi’s room. His wings are restless under his skin. They want to take off. They have a destination to get to. It dawns slowly on him—the Karasuno banner told him to fly, and so he flew. He got wings after the fabric touched his shoulder. What if, unlike the blessing of flight, the same thing happened to Kita, making him forget?

“Sakanoshita, you said,” Daichi asks, his voice uneven, light. Koushi rants, saying that Daichi hasn’t been listening. “No, you said it earlier; Kita was at Ukai’s, at the store?”

“It’s where he was reported to be asking around last, and Ukai said he’d have to house this kid because there aren’t hotels close by or inns to take him,” Koushi explains, and Daichi runs past him, back to window. “Hey, Daichi!?”

Daichi is out in a second, up in the next. Koushi could never have seen him, that’s how fast he’s taken off.

He had to apologize to Kita. He knew where Sakanoshita was, but his wings knew it even better. Daichi could close his eyes and just flap the wings. They would take him to Kita. His wings are even faster now that he’s running towards something instead of away. Courage of the heart, at last. And it was all so easy to see now, too. Of course it wouldn’t have been easy.

True love never was.

*

The forceful landing creates a small crater. Daichi’s knees are fine with it, given that he’s getting better and better at landing the more he practices. Sakanoshita’s lights are out, and there’s only the glow of the vending machine. Daichi cannot see Kita. His wings flutter, sure that he’s here. Eyes go up above the store, looking for a sign. Strangely, there actually is one.

Daichi’s wings bring him up with a beat. He holds onto the edge of the roof, his feet against the wall. His face lights up with the glow of a lantern. It is small, the smallest he’s ever seen. The black lettering are kanji he doesn’t recognize. Squinting, Daichi has the inkling that these are old kanji. Ancient ones. Long forgotten. His electronic dictionary may know it. Huffing, Daichi jumps up and his wings aid him to go forward, to sit on the roof. He takes the lantern in his hands, careful to not break the paper. It’s warm.

From the top a red ribbon appears, pulling the lantern. Daichi hears the sound of bells. He gets up slowly, ready to take off. He’s afraid to beat his wings too soon, because he could destroy the lantern. The tinkle of bells sound again, and the lantern is pulled up into the air. Daichi, quick to follow, keeps a small distance, as to not to distort the lantern’s personal airspace. At all times, it keeps straight up, only tilting to the side when a change of direction happens.

Daichi realizes where the lantern goes. It’s to his house. On the top of the roof, he finds light platinum hair, with a dark outgrowth right underneath. Cold eyes from before have moisture in them. Kita sits with the Karasuno banner on his shoulders, hugging himself to stay warm. Sighing, Daichi lands next to him, sits down and puts one of his wings over the banner, over Kita.

“I don’t think that magic works for you, Kita-kun.”

Kita sniffles. “It was worth a try. I promise I’ll bring it back.”

“Don’t worry about that. It’s my responsibility,” Daichi smiles, having gone through a 180 degree change from when he last touched the banner. He pushes his arm over Kita too, facing forward. “I’m also taking responsibility for my actions. For hurting you. I think…I think I wanted to fly to you, actually. Seeing you here after a month has gone by…I wasn’t thinking rationally. Next thing I know, I have wings and am flying away. I apologize for that.”

Not saying anything, Kita brings his head to lean against Daichi’s. “I am sorry that I forgot…”

For a moment, neither says a word. Daichi wants to wrap his wings around Kita, and the itch goes from his back to his elbows, to his hands. Instead, he pressed his hands under Kita’s jaw, wondering if their apologies were useless. They were beings different than what the normal world had to offer.

“Second try?” Daichi says, and Kita leans closer right away, his eyes already half-lidded. Daichi wonders what it is about them not wasting any time, but all that flies out of the window when Kita’s lips brush his and command him to open with a tug of teeth at Daichi’s lower lip. Why the Fates had them move so fast is anyone's guess. Daichi doesn’t want to dwell on the how and why, and only on the here and now.

They could start to figure things out another day, when kissing and getting to know each other were in such a limited time frame for now. Daichi knew Kita would have to return, and that meeting up even with the addition of wings on his back wouldn’t be possible all the time. Bringing Kita to his bed, they sit down and hold hands, exchange little tidbits about each other. Daichi promises Kita to bring the banner back himself and not tell another soul about it.

Kita promises to stay for breakfast, and allows Daichi to walk him to the station afterwards.


End file.
